Namecheap

Namecheap

Namecheap

Domain registrar and web hosting company

Namecheap is an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar[1] and web hosting company, based in Phoenix, Arizona. The company was founded in 2000 by Richard Kirkendall[2] and has since grown to become one of the largest independent domain registrars in the world, with over 10 million customers and over 17 million domains under management.[3][4]

Quick Facts Type of business, Founded ...

Namecheap offers domain name services, including domain registration, transfer, and renewal, as well as domain privacy protection and other value-added services. In addition, Namecheap also offers shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers.

Namecheap has been accepting Bitcoin as a payment method since March 2013.[5]

On 15 February 2023, Delhi High Court ordered Indian IT Ministry to block Namecheap and other domain registrars over cybersquatting and non-compliance with India's IT Rules, 2021.[6][7][8]

Advocacy

ICANN price caps decision

In July 2019, Namecheap was one of the organizations that filed a reconsideration request to ICANN asking for a review of the decision to remove price caps on .org and .info TLDs.[9][10] As of September 2019, ICANN has ignored such requests.[11]

Termination of service to Russian accounts

In February 2022, Namecheap announced that they would terminate services to Russian accounts due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, citing "war crimes and human rights violations". Existing users were given a one-week grace period to move their domains.[12] The next day, the deadline was extended by another 2 weeks. If users did not move their domains, their websites became inaccessible, even if the domain registration period had not yet passed. The company also announced that it would be offering free anonymous domain registration and web hosting to all protest and anti-war websites in Russia or Belarus.[13] Namecheap at the same time said it had over 1,000 employees located in Ukraine, comprising most of its support staff, mostly in Kharkiv (which was a major location of fighting).[14]

References

  1. [1]
    "InterNIC - Registrar List". InterNIC. 2017-04-23. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  2. [2]
    Spadafora, Anthony (October 2, 2019). "Namecheap Review". Tom’s Guide. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  3. [3]
    "Hosting Provider Namecheap to Stop Services for Russians Domains". Cyber Security News. March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  4. [4]
    Spadafora, Anthony (October 2, 2019). "Namecheap Review". Tom’s Guide. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  5. [5]
    Bustillos, Maria (April 1, 2013). "The Bitcoin Boom". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  6. [6]
    Thapliyal, Nupur (2023-02-15). "Take Action Against Domain Name Registrars For Not Complying With IT Rules: Delhi High Court To IT Ministry". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  7. [7]
    Mathi, Sarvesh (2023-03-14). "Why Namecheap and four other domain registrars are blocked in India". MediaNama. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  8. [8]
    Allemann, Andrew (2023-03-12). "Indian ISPs block access to major domain registrars". Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  9. [9]
    McCarthy, Kieren (July 29, 2019). "Dot-org price-cap scrap latest: Now ICANN accused of snubbing registrars with 'sham' public comment process". The Register. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  10. [10]
    Binder, Matt (August 9, 2019). "How the battle over domain prices could drastically change the web". Mashable. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  11. [11]
    Karanicolas, Michael (September 14, 2019). "What Is the Purpose of ICANN's Comment Periods?". Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  12. [12]
    Bode, Karl (February 28, 2022). "Namecheap Tells Russian Customers to Find Another Registrar Due to Russia's 'War Crimes'". Vice.com. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  13. [13]
    Abigail Opiah (March 2, 2022). "Namecheap offers free web hosting and domain registration to Russian anti-war websites". Tech Radar. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  14. [14]
    Murphy, Kevin (March 1, 2022). "Namecheap boss goes nuclear on Russian customers". Domain Incite. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
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